Tonight's Salad

We have salad for dinner a couple of nights per week.  The stars of tonight's salad?

Frisée and the young leaves of amaranth, a nutrition-packed red "green!"

It's Easy Being green!

I don't know if this is evidence of the wonderful new raised beds we built,

or the season, but these are the most amazing greens I have ever grown!

I posted the varieties earlier, just had to show you what I picked today!

Beautiful Greens

I think my friends all know how much I love greens.  This spring, I have grown the

most lovely and tasty salad greens ever!  Arugula, freckles lettuce, redbor kale, bright

lights Swiss chard and Bibb lettuce.  I don't know if it is this combination, good weather 

or the new raised beds I planted in, but I am delighted!  Due to renovating the garden,

however, I planted late, so these greens won't last too much longer (the arugula is already 

starting to bolt- one trick is to let it bolt, and flop down, and it will produce fresh green 

leaves in the fall).

Happy gardening!

Green Wave Mustard

The most reliable green in my central Virginia garden, Green Wave Mustard, is available from a variety of sources.  This old-timey green a favorite in the south, is sweeter raw when young, nutty and luscious when cooked, and is slow to bolt, a very good characteristic for our hot summers...and it can be planted in mid-summer, as long as your provide sufficient water to germinate the seed.  My favorite way to cook it? Caramelize a sliced onion in 2 T of good olive oil with a pinch of salt, add 2 or more cloves crushed garlic and cook a minute, add 4 or more cups of the mustard greens, and let them wilt well. Then add 2 T balsamic vinegar and serve! Delicious!

Happy gardening!

Arugula

Well my August-planted arugula (this time the wild type, Rucola selvatica) is ready to eat and, boy, is it beautiful. It tastes great too: spicy, a little nutty, very unique. I usually plant a more modern variety of arugula, thinking the leaves will be wider and there will be more to eat, but I am delighted with how this wild type has performed this year.  Arugula likes full sun (though in summer, a little afternoon shade is OK), and well-draining, rich soil (most plants do).  It germinates in 7 to 14 days and is ready for harvest in about 35 days.  Pretty easy to grow!
There is still time to get yours in the ground, especially if you can provide it with some simple winter cover, like hoops (bent metal coat hangers can do in a pinch) covered in clear plastic sheeting, should we get a hard freeze.
Happy gardening!

The Mustards

There are many greens that you can grow through the winter in Virginia: kale, chard, lettuces, and arugula to name a few, but none are as reliable as the mustards, in my humble opinion. Mustards, like the Green Wave and India Red Giant pictured here, reliably sprout, need little care, and can take freezing temperatures (though if freezing temps are to be prolonged, I do cover them with a row cover or cold frame). They are nutritional powerhouses which will easily self sow if you allow a few to flower and set seed. I like to do a simple treatment with mustard greens: young leaves can be eaten raw in salads and they can be simply sauteed or braised in olive oil, with onions, garlic (can you have too much garlic?), and a dash of red wine or balsamic vinegar. You can get creative and caramelize carrots, parsnips and or onions in the pan before adding the garlic and greens- this gives a sweet contrast to the earthiness of the greens. I have sauteed chopped mustard greens and used them to top pizza, baked potatoes and pasta- YUM!
Happy gardening!

Easy to Love

Tatsoi: Easy to Love

Above is a photo of some of the last of my tatsoi (Brassica rapa or B. narinosa, common name spinach mustard), right from the garden. I sowed the seed in early March. Maybe it is just the season, but it has been incredibly easy to grow, the seed germinated quickly, it grew fast, and had few pests. I bought the seed on a whim, but will be looking for more for fall planting. As readers of this blog know, I have a love affair with greens. I love their tastes, they are versatile in the kitchen and are generally easy to grow. I will use this tonight in an Asian-inspired stir fry along with some garden broccoli.

Happy gardening!

Thanksgiving Salad

I wondered where this photo got to- this is the salad I made at Thanksgiving from garden ingredients- Yes, my nasturtiums were still producing flowers!
Happy gardening!

Greens...again

If you follow this blog, you know that I am sort of crazy about greens (this week’s photo is what I harvested this weekend, which included some lovely and tasty nasturtium blossoms and a few pimento peppers). This is the time of the year to plant and harvest great greens in central VA. I started planting some greens in August, and planted more every few weeks, up to a few days ago. I will continue to plant them every few weeks into December, maybe later. Of course, my greatest greens triumph this fall is arugula, which volunteered.

So, what am I planting? Pinetree Gardens winter lettuce mix and their standard lettuce mix, mustard greens, kale and chard. The plants look healthy, large and leafy and we have been harvesting them for about a month. It is not too late to plant more, especially if you can provide a little winter protection, like a clear, plastic sheeting tunnel, a cold frame or even a cloche for individual plants, made from a plastic soda bottle or milk jug (cut the bottom not all the way off, using the outwardly folded, but still attached, bottom to anchor the bottle in the soil with a landscape pin. Cover individual lettuces with the bottle cloche, making sure the cap is off. This will extend your season significantly).

What do I do with these greens? 1. I braise them in a heavy-bottomed pan: heat olive oil, add greens, garlic, chopped onions and ¼ cup stock, wine or balsamic vinegar. Put on the lid and cook until the greens wilt (you can caramelize the onions first, then add the greens, garlic and liquid for a different flavor). You can vary this by adding shredded carrot, mushrooms, celery. 2. Tonight I made orichette pasta by hand (you can use store bought). I took a glass baking dish, put about 1 T olive oil in it and put it in a warm oven. I sited onions, garlic, herbs and dried tomatoes (from the garden too!) in olive oil in a pan on the stove top. When that was done, I took roughly torn chard and arugula, put in the glass baking dish, added the onion mix, the cooked pasta and topped it with grated Parmesan cheese. I let the cheese melt and warm through-YUM! 3. I will often chop the greens and add them to soups near the end of cooking, finely chop them and put them under the tomato sauce on a home-made pizza, eat them in a salad, and sauté them and fold them into an omelet with cheese.

Happy gardening! And eating!